According to Coursera CFO, the new terms represent a significant “shift”. Let’s dig into the numbers.

In 2021, edX was acquired by 2U for $800M, stopped being a nonprofit, and the 2U integration has begun.

Subscriber growth and revenue are accelerating even as revenue per user declines. Udemy built its empire on a simple idea: anyone could create a course, and anyone could buy one. That marketplace model made Udemy famous and made millionaires out of its top instructors. Now the company is deliberately killing it. In Q3 2025 earnings call, Udemy’s CFO admitted they are “intentionally reducing” single course sales to push users toward subscriptions. The logic is straightforward: Udemy keeps 82.5%

2U, the online education giant that acquired edX last year, just saw its stock price drop by half.